We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Delia McCabe, PhD. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Delia below.
Delia, so great to have you with us today. There are so many topics we want to ask you about, but perhaps the one we can start with is burnout. How have you overcome or avoided burnout?
I did a PhD into female stress to uncover the reasons for burnout because I was battling with it.
That may seem extreme, but I already had a masters in clinical psychology and it wasn’t helping me enough.
I believed that neuroscience held the answers – and it did.
From that research and using my clinical psychology background, I developed a framework that worked for me and I now teach it to people all over the world. It helps them prevent and recover from what I now see more and more of, and what I call, ‘Modern Burnout.’
It’s possible to thrive after burnout!
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
Many people feel overwhelmed by modern life. Recently I spoke to a person who said “I’ve just come back from a holiday but I still feel exhausted!’ Someone else confided in me recently that they thought they were getting dementia because they were forgetting everything!
This is unfortunately a common theme in my work – people complaining of feeling exhausted, sleeping poorly, unable to focus and concentrate well, and feeling as if their memory is failing.
These are all signs of a body and brain that’s overwhelmed and chronically stressed.
The three-pillar, interacting framework I developed, after I’d completed my PhD, addresses all these symptoms because it starts at the cellular (and neuronal) level.
It’s more than gratifying to see people become energized again, sleep deeply, feel calm, with balanced emotions, and have a brain that’s ‘switched on’ – creative and innovative again.
Many people battle to recover from ‘Modern Burnout’ because they think all they need is a holiday. They end up with ‘boomerang burnout’ because they don’t tackle the challenge with all the tools we now have available.
Recently, I’ve started to develop a program for teens, so they can avoid this type of burnout. It’s aim is to help them reduce their high anxiety levels naturally, communicate more effectively, and gain confidence and resilience,
I’m very excited about this program because it will help teens navigate the complex world we now live in with ease, so they won’t get ‘Modern Burnout!’
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
It was very helpful to have a background in clinical psychology when I pivoted towards neuroscience because it gave me some foundation of knowledge even if it didn’t answer many of the questions I’d started asking, but if I wasn’t curious I’d never have asked those questions and pivoted.
So I think curiosity is an essential characteristic to cultivate if you’re not satisfied with following a cookie-cutter ‘recipe’ as a career.
Secondly, being unafraid to approach people who know something you need to learn about because most of them are very happy to help people who are curious and want to do things differently, more effectively. I’m still friends with people who became mentors during the time I needed their expertise.
Finally, accepting challenges is also a necessary characteristic to cultivate because navigating your way in uncertain terrain means you will come up with obstacles. For example, I had to search for a university that was involved in multi-disciplinary research because most universities want you to focus on one discipline. This meant I ended up with a medical PhD, which was better than giving up and pursuing one discipline.
Curiosity, being brave enough to ask for support, and accepting that the journey won’t be easy, but will be worth it, are all useful characteristics to cultivate for life, and for all endeavors, especially when you’re choosing a ‘road less traveled.’
What has been your biggest area of growth or improvement in the past 12 months?
America is now the third continent that I’ve lived on and worked in during the last 25 years, although I’ve also worked in Europe and Asia. This means I’ve had to learn about different cultures quickly and take them into account when forging new relationships and collaborating with others.
This means I’ve had to walk through many more doors (aka be brave) to meet more people, ask lots of questions – and listen actively for clues to cultural differences. And, learn to speak more clearly about what I do and how I can help people.
Being interviewed for this publication means I’ve said ‘Yes!’ to another opportunity!
In summary, I’ve become more brave than I was before this current adventure!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://lighterbrighteryou.life
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deliamccabe_phd/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-delia-mccabe/
- Other: Substack: https://deliamccabe.substack.com
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